Santa Monica jet ban blocked; Van Nuys next?

On May 15, the City of Santa Monica’s longstanding effort to ban category C and D aircraft from operating into Santa Monica Airport was blocked again, this time by an FAA hearing officer whose 116-page ruling on the FAA Part 16 dispute between the city and the agency stated, among (many) other things: “The ordinance unreasonably and unjustly discriminates against classes of aeronautical activities, and, thus, is inconsistent with the City’s obligations under Assurance 22 of the grant agreements between the FAA and the City.”

The same day, NBAA submitted a letter to the Los Angeles city council, expressing its concern over Los Angeles World Airports’ plans to implement a phase-out of Stage 2 aircraft over the next seven years at Van Nuys Airport. “A phase-out would be highly discriminatory and serve no valid purpose,” NBAA said. “Although a phase-out is projected to affect only five flights per day in 2014, those flights are of critical importance to the operators and the community, and there would be no offsetting environmental benefits.”